5 food news bites: RIP Dick Spady, Tom Douglas goes tipless and more

Originally published January 14, 2016 at 7:00 am
Updated January 14, 2016 at 7:51 pm

A sign memorializing Dick’s co-founder Dick Spady is on the window at the Wallingford Dicks. The Wallingford Dicks location is where it all started on January 28, 1954, when you could buy a Dick’s hamburger for just 19 cents. (Greg Gilbert/The Seattle Times)

Saying goodbye to the local food hero of Dick's Drive-In, Tom Douglas makes a major announcement, Capitol Hill restaurantsplosion and more.

Share story

1. RIP, DICK SPADY: The co-founder of Seattle institution Dick’s Drive-In died on Sunday at the age of 92. Mr. Spady, come to find out, was a marvelously generous man as well as the purveyor of the city’s favorite hamburgers, and it was my great honor to write his obituary. (Don’t miss the lovely celebrations of his life and hamburgers in the comments.) Condolences to his family, who will continue to make sure we all get our Deluxes, with no changes planned.

2. $15 AND TIPLESS IN SEATTLE: Following in the footsteps of Renee Erickson and Ivar’s, Tom Douglas is getting rid of tipping and moving his employees directly to $15 an hour, starting at three of his restaurants next month with the rest expected to follow. Elsewhere in Seattle, Jerry Traunfeld’s Lionhead is tipless, as is Matt Dillon’s new Upper Bar Ferd’nand; in New York, restaurateur Danny Meyer recently got rid of tips (calling the old system “broken”) and David Chang just opened his Momofuku Nishi tip-free. Here’s more from T-Doug on the change.

3. CAPITOL HILL RESTAURANT MADNESS: Almost 40 new bars and restaurants opened on Capitol Hill last year, with 20-plus already in the works to open in 2016. Nutty! And could it get glutty? Or are there sufficient (and sufficiently indiscriminate) new mouths in Seattle to keep them all afloat? Time will tell.

4. REDMOND NOODLE PROPS: At Eater National, critic Bill Addison named his nationwide best-of-the-best dishes this week, with a local spot anointed for “Most Profound Noodle Revelation”: Miah’s Kitchen in Redmond. The revelatory noodles are Xi’an-style biang biang ones (also available and reportedly good at Qin in Edmonds). Meanwhile, Renee Erickson’s The Whale Wins made Addison’s 2016 National 38 restaurant list.

5. TOP CHEF TONIGHT: Mamnoon chef/local hero Jason Stratton returns again on Bravo tonight after showing he knows his way around a hot date and a big fat mass gay wedding last week. Here’s a preview of tonight’s episode with Stratton briefly looking pained at the end.